Clone
A clone is an exact dupliate of an organism General info In order to create a clone, a sample of a subject's cells were taken and its genetic code was duplicated. This in turn was implanted into a cell where it was allowed to grow and develop into an exact duplicate of the cell donor. An important aspect of this process was the use of vats for the clone to gestate which was artificial wombs that were filled with nutrients as well as organic catalysts. One of the reasons for this was to prevent any external influence from interfering in the growth of the developing clone. It was possible to alter the attributes of a clone's physical appearance by varying the intake of the nutrients into the vat and by altering the catalyst solution. This equally allowed for individuals to accelerate the cloning process by many times the normal rate. At its peak, this allowed for a fully formed adult clone body being produced in a matter of weeks. However, one of the problems with this forced acceleration was the fact that these clones were often mentally unstable. Many theories were postulated as to why this was the case with some believing that the cloning process interfered with the normal natural life forces. There were some methods used to prevent this clone madness from occurring during mass cloning processes.1 The genetic material was required from an organic subject and were typically referred to as a Prime clone. Through this template, it was possible through a number of different techniques to create an exact physical replica of the subject. The process was capable of being used to create only a single copy or multiple ones. Furthermore, genetic engineering was capable of further altering the subject to either improve different traits. Though mass cloning was useful, another noted problem with this technique on a larger scale was the fact that the individual clones lacked the personality of the original. As such, they often needed to be taught from scratch as environment proved to be an important factor in an individual's development. This meant that while clones were genetically similar to their donor, they were capable of diverging from their personality and even developing distinct identities of their own.1 A long standing argument in regards to cloning in addition to flash memory was whether the clone retained the thoughts, memories and thinking of its prime clone. Some believed, that in theory, the clone was identical to the original while others argued that experiences as well as perceptions differed amongst the clones. Fett Clones One of the largest acts of cloning was conducted by the Kaminoans, the race of clone experts that was responsible for the creation of several billion clone troopers from the DNA of bounty hunter Jango Fett that comprised the Grand Army of the Republic, prior to and during the Clone Wars.2 Maintaining a vast facility within Tipoca City, the soldiers were grown within cloning chambers and trained at the city's Military Complex.2 The first attempt to replicate Jango Fett resulted in twelve prototype clones, known as the Null-class Advanced Recon Commandos, and were the subject of the Kaminoans' attempts to enhance Fett's genome. While the clones would possess photographic memory and perfect recall, and substantially bulkier frames as adults, half of the twelve did not survive the gestation period and the six who did were deemed uncontrollable by their creators. But at the behest of Cuy'val Dar sergeant Kal Skirata, the clones were ultimately spared from being reconditioned—a fate which in this case would mean death.5 Noting their perceived failure, the Kaminoans would go on to create one hundred Alpha-class Advanced Recon Commandos who possessed the exact same genetic makeup as Fett without any modifications except age acceleration. In addition, they also took DNA samples from Jedi Knight Falon Grey which they used to create twin Force-sensitive clones called X1 and X2.6 The standard troopers, though, were genetically altered to be more docile and susceptible to obeying orders than their genetic template, supplemented by rigorous behavior modifications to instill absolute loyalty to the Galactic Republic. In order to grow fully matured clones in half of the time it takes ordinary Humans, the Kaminoans modified the clones by implementing "age acceleration" into their development, thus allowing the clones to reach adulthood in ten years instead of two decades. Although the exact rate at which clones aged is unknown, it appears to be nearly twice as fast a natural-born Human and it is theorized that this rate increased as clones grew older—especially under stress, thus leading to a dramatic shortening of the clones' life expectancy.7 Despite these modifications, the clone troopers could still think and act creatively and possessed a level of individuality that their Kaminoan creators did not anticipate. By the second year of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had established a secondary cloning facility in secret on Coruscant's moon, Centax-2.7 Under the supervision of an unknown clonemaster, the facility was operated by Arkanian Microtechnologies and used Spaarti cloning cylinders to produce fully matured clones within a year. Hence, the clones from Kamino were supplemented by billions of clones that were roughly a year old and instructed through flash training.78 But with only a year to grow the clones and prepare them for war, the fighting ability of Spaarti-grown clones was noticeably lower than their counterparts from Kamino. Thus, the overall result of Spaarti technology led to clones with underdeveloped combat and marksmanship skills, including a heavily diminished sense of individuality and self-preservation. Aside from Jango Fett's considerable price to become the clone template, Fett also requested an unaltered clone for himself. Jango regarded the clone as his son and legacy, thus naming him Boba Fett. As per Jango's terms, Boba's genetic structure was not tampered with age acceleration or increased docility programming, essentially making him an exact physical duplicate of his father. Despite receiving none of the modifications that his clone "brothers" possessed, Boba would still experience the degradation of his DNA later in life due to the fact that he was a clone. At some point during the Clone Wars, Zeltron bounty hunter Vianna D'Pow followed Jango's example and commissioned the Kaminoans to create a single clone of herself.